"You can get caught up just talking to people and looking through their photos to see what everybody's up to. But I think it's better to actually try see people in person."

Ms Zoe's need to stay connected online is typical of Australians her age, according to a study by Cisco on the internet habits of the world's Gen-Y population.

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The report, which surveyed 3600 people aged under 30 – including 200 Australians – found young people depend on internet devices such as smartphones to "drive every facet of their lives".

It found that 88 per cent of Australian respondents checked their smartphones before leaving home in the morning, as part of their morning ritual.

A third continued to check their smartphones at least every hour, sometimes every 10 minutes, even during meals with friends and family, admitting they would feel anxious of they were separated from it, like a part of them was missing.

Cisco's chief technology officer, Kevin Bloch, said the research revealed a dependency on smartphones that bordered on addiction, something that older generations may not understand.

"If you are trying to have a conversation with somebody and every few minutes they keep checking their phone, it sends negative messages about their attention span and whether they're actually interested in what I'm saying," he said.

The report found that online friendships were becoming just as important as offline ones, with a third of Australian respondents spending more time talking with friends on social networks such as Facebook than speaking to them in person.

Ms Zoe said she was working on the door of a music gig last week and bumped into a girl she was friends with online, but had never met in person.

"We agreed that maybe we should actually hang out and become real friends because we knew so much about each other."

Aspiring teacher Dilan Ozdemir, 25, says she sometimes found it easier to have personal conversations online.

"I probably feel more comfortable online, it's just easier to have conversations that you normally wouldn't have in a social setting".

Ms Ozdemir checks her smartphone at least every half an hour – more if she's bored – spending three to five hours a day on sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Skype and email.

During her last year of university, she asked a friend to change her Facebook password, so she could concentrate, not trusting herself to abstain.

"I rely heavily on my phone, even for maps and GPS, because it's easy and saves a lot of time. I think it's something that should just be embraced. I just don't see a world without my phone."

The survey was conducted by Cisco Systems, a US multinational that designs, manufactures and sells networking equipment.